The Night After
by Pearl sun
Summary: Ever wondered what happened the night after Shadows series 13 ? Harry takes Nikki home and things go from there. Lots of Harry/Nikki friendship, some hints at something more.


Okay first Silent Witness story so be kind please. I love getting feedback, so please tell me how I did. Thank you for reading my story and I hope that you enjoyed it! I loved writing Harry/Nikki and I seriously did start it with lots of fluff in mind, but it didn't turn out that way. I have only just see Shadows, so spoilers for that - it's series 13, the only series that I've seen so if I get anything super wrong I'm sorry. This is also unbetaed (I think that's a word) so all mistakes are mine. I'm going to shut up now, sorry about the super long a/n, congratulations if you read it all!!!

P.S Yay for procrastinating :D

Disclaimer: I don't own nothing...

* * *

For the second time in one day, Nikki felt as though her world falling apart. She had made her way to the edge of the university campus to find Harry and Leo.

"You have to get them out of the building, there are bombs set to blow in there," Nikki yelled, her eyes ablaze like some warrior queen long forgotten.

"Leo," Nikki sighed in relief and let him wrap an arm around her shoulders while he checked her to see if she was alright. She was pleased to see the message being passed around.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked Nikki.

"I'm fine Leo," _no you're not, _a voice in her head protested. "Where's Harry?"

Leo refused to meet her eyes and Nikki stiffened when she saw Leo's eyes flicker towards the campus.

"Oh no," Nikki whispered, gripping Leo's hand.

"There is a bomb squad on the way." Leo told Nikki, trying to calm her.

* * *

Just then a group of people exited the building, including one Harry Cunningham.

"Harry?" Nikki's face lit up with relief as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's me Niks," Harry reassured her, rubbing his hand in soothing circles around her back, he felt her relax.

"Dr. Alexander?" An officer appeared next to the reunited partners. "I need to take your statement." He informed her, his hair was slick with gel. Harry felt Nikki's shoulders slump with exhaustion. Nikki nodded and pulled herself out of Harry's tight embrace, still clutching his hand.

* * *

By the time that they were done, the only thing keeping the two pathologists upright was sheer determination.

"Come on, I'll drive you home," Harry told Nikki who only nodded, too tired to argue for once.

* * *

During the car trip home, the pair fell into an easy silence, Harry concentrated on the road despite the light traffic, not wanting to get them into an accident after everything else that had happened today. Nikki meanwhile stared out the window, a glazed look on her face.

* * *

Harry walked Nikki to her door. He watched her fumble with the keys. He noticed that she had blood all over her body. Nikki turned to Harry when she finally managed to open the door.

"Want to come inside for coffee?" She offered, secretly not wanting to be alone. Harry broke out into a wide grin.

"Can't get enough of my good looks," he teased her, Nikki woke up somewhat, glad for the banter between them and the feeling of normalcy that it brought.

She looked him up and down, obviously checking him out.

"You do look alright," she relented. "Except for your hair," she continued. Harry ran a self-conscious hand through his hair.

"What's wrong with my hair?" He demanded.

"Well nothing, if you like hair that looks like a mop," Nikki said, a small smile gracing her lips. "And that looks as though a small family of robins is nesting in it at the moment." Harry smiled as a small giggle gurgled out of Nikki's throat.

"Long day," Harry reminded her, the smile was wiped away from Nikki's face from the reminder of the day.

"I'm going to go and get changed in the bathroom," Nikki muttered, changing the subject. "You can make coffee."

* * *

Harry waited for Nikki to return as he made the coffee. He'd been over to her place so often that he knew where everything was kept. But when Nikki didn't appear for ten minutes, he became worried and walked to the bathroom where he knocked on the door.

"Nikki? You in there? I've made coffee," Harry offered. When there was no reply he opened the door cautiously.

"Nikki?" Nikki looked up at him as he entered, she had been crying. Her mascara had run, causing black rivulets to roll down her face. She held up her hands for Harry to see. They were once again covered in blood.

"I feel like Lady Macbeth," Nikki tried to joke. Harry felt his heart squeeze painfully when he saw how devastated she was.

"I can't get it off," Nikki's voice broke. Harry walked over to her and turned on the shower, Nikki flinched from the sudden noise of water hissing through the pipes. He then carefully guided her underneath the stream of water, causing them both to become soaked instantly.

"Come on Nikki," he carefully took the cake of soap and began to methodically wash away the blood on her hands.

"That better?" Harry enquired. Nikki gave him a short nod and hid her face in the spot where his neck met his shoulder. Silent sobs wracked through her thin frame as Harry poured floral scented shampoo into Nikki's hair and rubbed it around on her scalp. Once he had rinsed it out, Nikki's sobs had subsided and she swayed slightly with exhaustion.

"Will you stay Harry?" Nikki asked bluntly.

"Of course," Harry answered softly and guided her out of the shower, still fully dressed.

"Wait here," he told her and went to her room where he found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for her to change into. Everything was too small for him and he was surprised to find a large top of his that he'd long forgotten about in her cupboard. There were also some men's pyjama pants and he didn't even want to know where she'd gotten them from.

Leaving a trail of water throughout the house, that he knew Nikki would scold him about the next day, Harry made his way back to the bathroom. He handed Nikki the clothes and left, closing the door behind him to give her some privacy. He wasn't sure what would happen if he stayed and part of him wanted to find out, which scared him to no end. He did not want to lose his unique relationship with Nikki. He stripped, and after a quick examination of his clothes, which were stained with blood and soaking, he decided that they were a lost cause and threw them into the bin. He nearly jumped with surprise when he looked up to see Nikki staring at him, her damp hair tumbling down her back.

"I hate sleeping with wet hair Harry," she told him. He sighed loudly.

"Fine, let me dry Madame's hair," he said playfully, grabbing the hairdryer. He then spent five minutes trying to get it to work, before realising he hadn't plugged it in, then another five minutes trying to comb out the knots in Nikki's hair and another ten minutes being told how to do it without making it to painful, and she called his hair long… When he was done, Harry met Nikki's eyes in the mirror, it was close to one o'clock in the morning, and tomorrow was a Saturday, _small blessings _thought Harry. They made their way then to Nikki's bedroom, where they both collapsed onto the bed.

"I was so scared Harry. I thought that you were dead." Nikki whispered into Harry's ear.

"I thought that I was going to die," Harry revealed.

"Don't ever do that again," Nikki demanded. _She was one to talk_, thought Harry, she who was always so stubborn and walked headfirst into danger, but when he met her large eyes of he found himself promising. Nikki curled into Harry's side, her head on his chest, listening to the comforting sound of his hearts beating. She knew that things would be awkward in the morning, but right now she found that she couldn't care less. And as Nikki found herself drifting into sleep, she couldn't help but find it ironic that she and Harry were finally spending a night together in the same bed and yet she hadn't kissed him once…

Harry smiled as he felt Nikki's breathing deepen and even out, revealing that she had fallen asleep. He shifted, careful not to wake up Nikki, _he was finally in her famous bed,_ Harry thought with a grin as he too drifted off to sle


End file.
